Starting from (almost) Zero again

The question is always: how fast do I lose my fitness? Is it okay if I do one less mile today? If I skip a long run this weekend, will I still be on track with my training? Well, let me tell you this: you lose it faster than you think. Sure, one skipped workout doesn’t ruin your form. But continuous slacking like I have it been doing sets you back by a lot. 4 months ago I could run 20+ miles at a pace that I can keep up for 4 miles max. And I’m not getting all bitter and down on myself. There were reasons why this happened. Slacking really isn’t the right word. I have been trying but…

• First, my closest running buddy moved away. And running alone is just not as fun as with somebody else. Actually it is no fun at all. I’m still sad.
• Second, there were some family issues going on.
• and third: I did/do have some health issues.

Turns out I’m lactose intolerant. I am not a 100% positive on it yet, mainly because I already miss all the chocolate milk, yogurt, and cream cheese related things, although it has only been 36 hours without dairy. I know my behavior is ridiculous but I can’t help it. On the other hand I’m glad I finally figured it out, because the last couple weeks/months were no fun. GI distress like crazy. I thought it was because of running because that was when I always got the symptoms. It makes sense since I always tried to eat protein after a workout. And since I don’t eat meat, most of the other protein options include dairy. But the last two weeks the symptoms had gotten constantly so bad, that I couldn’t run/exercise at all. Then one night I hadn’t eaten all after noon and wasn’t hungry at all so I just had a couple sips of milk before I went to bad, and that’s when it had gotten the worst. Still not realizing what was going on, I had a yogurt the next afternoon and almost had to go home from work because my intestines were going nuts. And that’s when I finally figured it out.

Well after a long couple of months of being tired and not feeling well I finally want to get back on track with my training and more importantly with my MOTIVATION for fitness and other things (cooking more often, seeing friends, blogging a little more often and…).

Mid July I thought if I signed up for a race, my motivation would come back by itself. Well, it didn’t (due to the things mentioned above). And now here I am totally unprepared with a halfmarathon coming up in two and a half weeks. Great. What can you do?! Work hard, try your best, and just enjoy the journey 🙂

This is my ramble for the day. I hope I got all the negative stuff out to start fresh tomorrow ♥

 

Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 – Race

Yesterday (Saturday) was the 13th Annual Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 mile race in Darien, Illinois. The weather had cooled down a little bit and it couldn’t have been a more perfect race day.

The “before and after” picture. Don’tmind the Gu packet in the front of the picture. I was so zoned in I didnt even notice I was holding it in my hand the whole time. And after the race I was so tired I forgot to put my medal on!

The race was very well organized and so layed back, it was a lot of fun.

Packet Pick Up was on the three previous days before the race at different sports stores. There was also the possibility of getting it mailed or picking it up on race day, both for an extra charge. For a race this small (~700 runners?) I would expect race day pick up for no charge, but I am not complaining because the in store pickup locations were all pretty close to where I live. The entry fee I believe was 70$, but I won free entry in a raffle, so I was stoked about that!

Race Morning – it was only a 15 minute drive from my house and I was very lucky to be able to borrow a car from a family member since I don’t have ky own. Parking was very easy. I only got there ~40 minutes before race start and there was plenty of parking left, and I believe they never even filled all the spaces. So that was a first, yay.

The Course – The first 1.5 miles of the loop went downhill. Which was nice to start, but knowing the course had a total of 275 feet of elevation gain, we all knew that we have to run all of this (and much more) back uphill. After 2.5 miles was the hardest part called Big Bertha – 125 feet gain over 0.5miles. What i found even harder was the finish: The trail loop is only 9.6 miles long. So the last half mile we had to run through the grass field that you can see on the pictures above. I tend to go full out with one to two miles left in the race, because at that point all I can think of is crossing the finish line. So my mantra is The faster I run, the sooner I’m done. Well.. I had not planned on running in ankle high grass for so far. I was close to passing out. But no better feeling than finishing strong. And a smile will automatically plant itself on your face.

 

Results – There were some really fast people at this race. The fastest girl overall finished in 1:10:05. On the men’s side one guy almost cracked the one hour mark. In overall women’s I finished 19th and I was second in my age group for which I unexpectantly got a small award and a gift card to Roadrunner Sports Store. That is so generous of the race officials! Since I hadn’t really planned on participating or trained for this race I was pretty happy about my performance.

The post race food was pretty simple. Bananas, popcorn and bagels. However they had beer for all finishers which a lot of people were very happy about. I’m not a beer drinker so I was glad that there was a gatorade  vendor who gave out free gatorade.

Overall a pretty nice race-well organized and I just love running on trails. I had a blast!!

 

 

FriYay!! T minus 1 Day ’til Waterfall Glen Extreme 10

My day started off with a quick 3 mile morning run. It was so humid, that the sun was reflecting off the moisture in the air. But unfortunately by the time I had my phone out, the nice view was already almost gone.

Tomorrow is the Waterfall Glen Extreme 10. It is a hilly 10 mile trail race. I won free race entry in a raffle. Since this race happened kind of on accident, I am not super prepared for it. There are no hills to be found near me. So this race will be very interesting!!

If I will be anywhere near the pace I just ran this morning, I will be super happy.

Sometimes I forget what a cool city I’m working in. I try to not let work get the best of me and at least enjoy a couple of minutes outside during lunch break.

5 Yay’s for FriYay:

* It’s the weekend! The weather is supposed to cool down a little. Which is perfect for the 10 miler tomorrow morning.

* German tennis player Angelique Kerber is going to play in Wimbledon’s final tomorrow! Any tennis fans here? I’m a little bummed I can’t watch it because I will be running my race at the same time. But I’m keeping all my fingers (and toes) crossed for her to win.

* Yay on the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon. It is just so inspiring to watch all these elite athletes. To see how they put it all out there, how they conquer what they have trained for for so long. The joy of those who make the team is so fun to watch.

* on our bathtub that got finally fixed, and we don’t need to use the pliers to turn the shower on and off anymore.

* Yay! To my parents who hiked up Germany’s highest mountain today (2962 m = 9,718 feet). Being this fit at 65 and 60 years old is just awesome.

Papa on top of the mountains!

And to all the Germans out there:

Handspiel?! NOCHMAL?!?! Wie kann denn sowas passieren. Ja, schade, schade, Deutschland ist draussen. Ich hatte extra mein Trikot bei der Arbeit an und alle meine Kollegen und mein Chef haben mit gebibbert bis zum Schlusspfiff. Obwohl es bei uns mitten am Tag war (14 Uhr Anpfiff) und alle viel zu tun hatten, hat mein Chef eine das Spiel an die Wand projeziert, and wenn man grade zum Drucker oder sonst wo hin laufen musste, konnte man einen kurzen Blick aufs Spiel werfen.

Das ist echt toll wie Fussball hier in den USA immer populaerer wird. Und noch toller ist, wie beliebt die deutsche Mannschaft ist. Das 7:1 gegen Brasielien vor zwei jahren hat hier echt jeden vom Hocker gerissen, ob Fussballfan oder nicht. So Optimistisch wie die Amis immer sind kommt es mir wirklich vor als haben die mehr vertrauen in unsere Jungs, als wir Deutschen manchmal selbst. Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel und die naechste Weltmeisterschaft die unsere Jungs gewinnen werden kommt bald!

 

 

 

 

Hallo and Hello to all of You Awesome People!!

6 years ago (Wow! Time flies!) I left my tiny hometown and came to the United States for college. It was overwhelming in what a friendly and helpful way people welcomed me here.

9 months ago (approximately) I started running on a regular basis with the incentive to participate in races and just live a healthy lifestyle. And again, people in the running community were so welcoming and it has been a great journey so far.

I want to share all those moments and this great experience with all of you; I want to encourage people to run and join this amazing running community; and I want to share my unimportant thoughts of a foreigner living in the US 😉

 

First blog post

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.